Contact: Paula Ettelbrick, Executive Director
212/216-1256
pettelbrick@iglhrc.org

( July 1, 2005) This morning, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor announced her retirement from the United States Supreme Court. While Justice O’Connor has promoted a deeply conservative judicial philosophy during her 24 years on the Court, she has played a critically important role in keeping the Court from wholeheartedly overturning Roe v. Wade, in supporting women’s constitutional equality, and, eventually, in opposing sexual orientation-based discrimination and the targeted use of sodomy laws to discriminate against LGBT people. Justice O’Connor is also among a minority of Justices who have begun speaking publicly about the importance of considering the jurisprudence and legal developments outside the United States, a position forcefully opposed by more extreme conservatives. This view is of major interest to IGLHRC and all human rights advocates in the United States as opening the possibility of moving the Court to adopt some of the human rights principles in which we believe.

Following is the reaction of Paula Ettelbrick, Executive Director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC).

"We are shocked and deeply fearful about the direct impact Justice O'Connor's retirement will have on each of our lives. Despite her very conservative philosophy, and despite the fact that she voted to appoint George Bush as president 5 years ago, she has been a powerful swing vote on critical reproductive, women's and LGBT issues. Along with Justice Rehnquist's expected retirement, the Bush Administration now has the chance to swing the Court severely to the right - a development from which I do not believe we will ever be able to recover. At a time when the Bush government has failed to own up to its responsibility for its role in perpetuating human rights abuses in Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib, it is particularly distressing to face the possibility of a Bush Supreme Court nominee who will unquestionably rubber stamp policies regarding the “war on terrorism.” If we do not block Bush – as Justice O’Connor’s opinions have done on numerous occasions - from swinging the Court forever to the right, and rolling back all that we have worked so hard on for over 50 years, the results will be felt around the world for a very long time. It’s chilling."